Bye, Bye Bluebeard
Bye, Bye Bluebeard is a 1949 Merrie Melodies short directed by Arthur Davis. Title The title is a play on the song "Bye Bye Blackbird", which is also played in the opening credits. Plot Porky eats large amounts of food to the rhythm of an exercise radio broadcast. A mouse sneaks up and tricks Porky into biting his own finger as a "finger sandwich" as a joke. Porky drives the mouse off; but then he is suddenly startled by a radio announcement stating that killer Bluebeard is at large. Porky locks up his house against said criminal. The mouse then bullies Porky by disguising himself as Bluebeard and threatening Porky until he offers him some food. As Porky is busy getting the mouse a drink, he is alerted by a radio newsflash that gives Bluebeard's height as six feet eleven inches. Porky then measures the rodent as three inches, and realizes that he has been tricked. The mouse runs from Porky until Porky eventually pulls out the real Bluebeard (an anthropomorphic wolf measuring 6'11" with brown fur and a blue beard, hence the name) by accident from under the table. The mouse then harasses Bluebeard as he is eating while Porky is strapped to a rocket; the mouse then harasses Bluebeard while he is trying to eat by saying he is his conscience. The harassment continues and ends with Bluebeard getting hit five times by the mouse with pies to the face in various ways. Meanwhile, Porky stops the fuse on the rocket and Bluebeard ties Porky to a chair while working on another way to kill him. The mouse watches as Porky is begging for his life while Bluebeard builds a guillotine. The mouse helps Porky by tricking Bluebeard into eating some popovers (which, in reality, are bombs). Bluebeard desperately tries to get rid of them but fails as he is blown to pieces and presumably killed. Later, Porky and the mouse are happily eating to the rhythm of an exercise radio broadcast, Porky no longer having a problem with the mouse due to him having saved his life. The mouse pats his belly, fat and happy. Availability * (1992) VHS - Porky Pig: The Days of Swine and Roses * (1994) LaserDisc - Guffaw and Order: Looney Tunes Fight Crime * (2005) DVD - Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 3, Disc Three Censorship Both Nickelodeon and The WB channel airings of this cartoon delete two scenes: * A short shot of Bluebeard putting Porky in the guillotine (which occurs after the part where the mouse flips a coin on whether or not he should rescue Porky), due to violence and threat. * The scene of Bluebeard (after eating mini-bombs disguised as popovers) rushing to the medicine cabinet and mixing the contents of every bottle in a cup to drink before the explosion happens, due to concerns from both channels' censors that impressionable little kids would imitate this. Both channels edit this scene to make it look like Bluebeard ate the bombs and exploded.http://www.intanibase.com/gac/looneytunes/censored-b.aspx Notes * This is one of the few cartoons originally released before 1950 to be reissued in the 1959-64 period. As with most cartoons re-released in this period, the original opening and ending titles are replaced with the reissue Color Rings, but the original credits remained. * This is one of the few cartoons that was re-released without a visible production code on the reissue opening target rings. * Due to budget problems at Warner Bros., this was the last cartoon Davis directed in his own unit before it dissolved shortly after production finished. Most of his crew got laid off, moved to other units in the studio, or voluntarily moved to other studios. Davis would work in Freleng's unit as an animator until the closing of the original Termite Terrace studio. (In Freleng's unit, he directed one more short, "Quackodile Tears", after Freleng left) After the closing, Davis briefly moved to Walter Lantz Studios and Hanna-Barbera Studios, before rejoining Freleng in DePatie-Freleng Enterprises. * Among the contents of the medicine cabinet are all inside-jokes of the Warners crew; Frizby Miniatures (named after director Friz Freleng), Maltese Minestrone (after screenwriter Michael Maltese), Ted Pierce's Medicine (after screenwriter Tedd Pierce), Dr. Foster's Panace (after screenwriter Warren Foster), and Jones Laxitive (after director Chuck Jones). References Category:Merrie Melodies Shorts Category:Porky Pig Cartoons Category:Cartoons directed by Arthur Davis Category:Shorts Category:1949 Category:Cartoons animated by Basil Davidovich Category:Cartoons animated by Bill Melendez Category:Cartoons animated by Don Williams Category:Cartoons animated by Emery Hawkins Category:Cartoons with layouts by Don Smith Category:Cartoons with backgrounds by Philip DeGuard Category:Cartoons with characters voiced by Mel Blanc Category:Cartoons with music by Carl W. Stalling Category:Cartoons with orchestrations by Milt Franklyn Category:Cartoons with film editing by Treg Brown Category:Cartoons with sound effects edited by Treg Brown Category:Cartoons produced by Eddie Selzer Category:Blue Ribbon reissues